*Content warning: This article contains details of sensitive issue
Méline Douyssard
girl in red — also known as Marie Ulven Ringheim — confronts addiction and depression on her latest single, released on 30th May 2025, and produced by long-time collaborator Matias Téllez.
This release follows her earlier 2025 single, ‘Confession’ which — as the title suggested — already pointed toward a more vulnerable and introspective direction.
The title’s meaning: a metaphor about alcoholism
With the title of her new single, ‘Hemingway’, girl in red immediately sets the tone for a deeply personal confession.
The reference is not accidental: Ernest Hemingway, the American novelist, journalist, and war correspondent — known for The Sun Also Rises (1926) and A Farewell to Arms (1929), and awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954 — also battled alcoholism and depression, just like the artist herself.
In a TikTok video posted last month, girl in red revealed that she began taking benzodiazepines to cope with anxiety while on tour.
Over time, she became addicted and struggled with this dependency for nearly a year. She also admitted to having attempted suicide during that period.
Now, after a year of therapy and three months sober, she says she finally feels ready to talk — and “this song needed to exist.”
‘”God damn baby, you drink like Hemingway. But your writing’s no good and your songs all sound the same.”
The haunting line “God damn baby, you drink like Hemingway” encapsulates both admiration and despair — it’s not just a literary nod, but a mirror held up to her own reflection.
Hemingway’s name becomes a way to personify the pain she felt, a shortcut to broach what she kept silent for a long time.
Why did ‘Hemingway’ reach a milestone?
Following the success of her 2024 album I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!, which presented a more confident and assertive girl in red, ‘Hemingway’ marks a profound turning point — not only in sound, but in emotional vulnerability.
It feels less like a traditional single and more like a voice memo pulled straight from the depths of a restless mind — an audio diary laying bare emotional scars instead of hiding them behind polished production.
This rawness may signal the beginning of a new artistic chapter: one that embraces lo-fi aesthetics, intimate storytelling, and a kind of fragility that is as courageous as it is disarming.
On Instagram, girl in red described ‘Hemingway’ as “the most important song I’ve made in my life so far” — a powerful statement that underlines just how deeply personal and artistically significant the track is to her.
A wave of support
By opening up about her struggles — even at her lowest point — girl in red has sparked something bigger than a song: a movement.
Her fans have responded with overwhelming support, flooding the comments with words of solidarity and sharing their own personal stories in return.
If you feel you need help with your mental health, see your GP or a healthcare professional. Alternatively, you can find a list of resources here.
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Featured image courtesy of Justin Higuchi on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
